Friday, December 9, 2016

Back to the Salem Study Weekend: Day One/Garden One

(yesterday brought an afternoon of snow, followed by several hours of freezing rain, to the Portland area. Sadly the overnight warm-up that was predicted did not occur (I had hope!) thus its an icy mess out in the garden. Trees, shrubs and bamboo splayed every which way. I thought a little distracting sunshine was in order...)

Back to the beginning. This was the first garden I visited as part of last summer's weekend-long tour.

While I'd been told the gardens on the tour would be worth seeing, you just never know until you're there, I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked up to the garden. While it wasn't completely my style there was enough to capture my interest and that's all I ask.

From the tour guide: "Entrance to our garden is between brick masonry pillars topped with gargoyles. The sidewalk to the house is flanked by lawns purposely grown tall to prevent invasive growth, and by a very old magnolia tree surrounded with shade-loving plantings. A stairway leads down to a level area behind the house. There, you’ll find a small lawn, a water feature planted with perennials, and an expansive view over Minto Brown Island. Beyond a border of shrubbery the steeply sloping terrain is terraced with a mixture of rock, wood ties and broken concrete fragments. Multiple separate beds for flowers, vegetables, and fruit are reached by a staircase. Placed throughout the garden are an assortment of totem structures, the product of Cathy’s ceramic studio. The pebble stone mosaics decorating the walkways in the terraced garden are her work as well."

Aeonium perfection!

The water feature was larger, I only captured a corner.

Looks like a Cornus sanguinea 'Compressa' intentionally espaliered?

I need to move my plant out into a better spot and try this if need be to control its size.

Those pebble mosaics mentioned in the description...

And an established palm!

I've started down the step hillside, here I'm looking back up towards the house.

And down to the other levels, which included a vegetable garden.

And this crazy vine...

I think someone identified it as a type of kiwi?

The terraced levels made smelling the lilies a breeze.

This vase is a beauty. I wonder if it ever gets filled with cuttings?

There's a bench in which to set for a spell, on the right. Mostly cut off by my excellent photo-taking skills.

Time to climb back up to the top.

I wanted to back up and get a shot of the tour-go'ers gathered around, staring at these little guys in nearly the same pose. But figured that would be poor form, kind of like breaking the rule about posting shots of other bloggers bent over, butt in the air, to get a plant close-up photo.

This pathway was my favorite element of this garden's design. I loved it!

Heading around to the front of the house, along the opposite side from my journey to the back (which as I recall was mostly hydrangeas).

And finally a couple shots of the neighbor's house. At first I thought this was the open garden!

Another fabulous garden with loads of wonderful touches! I found myself sighing over its beauty as I read your post, starting with the gargoyle. (I have an unhealthy affection for gargoyles and no idea where it came from.) The bust of the woman in a red bathing cap made me laugh out loud - I was tickled that the nearby flowers even match the color of the cap.